Roundhill Lodge For Girls, Kettering

The initiative for this Home came from people in the Kettering community, who asked the Society to open a new home in the area. It was believed locally that a girls' home would complement the boys' home in Leicester. The Society purchased a residential town house, situated in a wide street called The Broadway. A new wing was added, so the building could accommodate up to 30 girls in its 'spacious, well-lighted, and airy rooms'. The Home was opened on 26 April 1905 by the Bishop of Leicester.

The premises included a fair sized lawn for the girls to play in, and a yard where they were given lessons in PE. There were four dormitories in Roundhill Lodge and each girl had her own locker. They also had a playroom, dining-room, cloakroom, boot-room, linen-room and a sitting-room for the matron and her assistants. The Home boasted a well-equipped kitchen and pantry. Across the yard were the laundry and ironing rooms.

In 1908 the Home changed its name to St Gabriel's Home for Girls. The loft was converted into a new playroom, which was opened by Mary Lady de Capell Brooke on 29 October 1910. Three years later on 10 April 1913 a new chapel was opened by Bishop Morley. It was dedicated to the late Revd CH Maunsell who had bequeathed a lot of money to the Kettering Home, much of which was spent on the Home's alterations.

Sometime between 1905-1908, Miss Wilmot replaced Miss Buchanan Ridell as the Home's Honorary Secretary. We believe Miss Wilmot Stayed at the Home until 1947, when St Gabriel's started to house boys as well as girls. The Home closed in 1966.